saitamaliving comments

Posted in: Japan's curling success a win for sport, local community in Hokkaido See in context

I like curling a lot, strategy, skills, physics and sometimes luck. One can see the Japanese team is really having fun and also deserves to be in the finals. Britain will have the advantage of the first end's last stone, nevertheless I wish the Japanese team of course all the best.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese publishers to sue U.S. firm over manga piracy See in context

In the field of advertising and promoting Japanese culture and media abroad, Japan unfortunately sucks. Here I must give the advice: Follow Korea, make Japanese media products available abroad - widely! Korea produces local dramas and movies, also targeted at the international audience. They carry two entertainment TV programs around the world free to watch with subtitled segments from national TV. Japan has nothing like this, NHK World is rather a special culture channel and if there's an entertainment channel like TV Japan, JSTV or NHK Premium, it costs a fortune to subscribe and still it's not really made for the international audience. Make those productions like TV, music and manga available to the international consumer, not just a small selection. Embrace the international market, offer online subscriptions, get out official translations to mangas, if done electronically, people could even switch between Japanese and their language, bringing more people to become interested in Japanese. Then those piracy servers won't need to exist. What are you currently losing with pirated manags not available abroad? Open up to the world, see the opportunities.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Posted in: Denmark becomes first EU country to lift all COVID restrictions See in context

Last summer the UK also lifted the restrictions since the vaccination rate was great... well, we all see how it ended up when the virus mutates too much. Denmark, on it's highest incidence rate ever, basically surrendered and hopes, that there will be no further, more dangerous variant after Omicron.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Japan eyes evacuating nationals in Ukraine See in context

I tried to get some information about this recent hysteria on western media about Russia and Ukraine from a newschannel in the Ukraine (what could be a better source), namely Ukraina24 and translated with Google.

Oleksiy Danilov (sekretary of national defense and security) was quoted two days ago as follows (did my best to summorize):

Up to these days there's no indication of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine. We repeatedly emphasize that there are no reasonable grounds in believing in a large-scale Russian attack against our country. The Russion troops movements exist but they do for years, that is nothing to be surprised about. It may be news for our international partners to finally see that the Russion Federation has troops across the border and that the move around. But the Ukraine functions in a normal mode.

In an apparently BBC interview he also commented about the evacuation of diplomats: To those who evacuate, money seems to be more important than democracy.

And adding my two cents: Why is the West hyping this conflict now? Especially after Afghanistan, is it a possible sales place for certain goods currently not needed elsewhere? Do some governments need confirmation? Why does the EU suddenly start justifying new sanctions with outdated Crimea, did Russia not respond as hoped after all these war scenario buildup (even incl. a possible invasion of Sweden) since last year? Why? Is it just to show off power? I could be wrong in my conclusions but the question still remains: Cui bono?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Posted in: Unidentified person enters North Korea from South in rare border breach: Seoul See in context

There's a mistake in the map. The Yellow Sea should read "West Sea (Yellow Sea)" since this map apparently is made for Koreans and the official international name of the Korean East Sea, the Sea of Japan is put in parantheses.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Tokyo subway conductor reprimanded for posting photo of commuter on Twitter See in context

The conductor stated that he took pictures of people with bad manners, especially when drinking or being drunk on the train or occupying more than one seat unnecessarily. Seems like he posted just four pictures since Dec. 2019. He used a company tablet for the initial photo but since those don't provide an internet connection, he took a close up picture from the tablet screen with his personal mobile phone.

I think it would also be interesting to know how the acquaintance of a person shown on one of these pictures found it in the first place. Stumbling upon an account out of millions and then identify a friend or relative seems rather odd.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Posted in: Theme park giving S Koreans a Japan fix despite pandemic See in context

Quote: Before the theme park opened, however, Kim had to weather harsh criticism, especially from lawmakers, given the frosty ties between South Korea and Japan over historical and diplomatic disputes.

I can just imagine their criticism and thoughts: How dare you portraying Japan in its/her reality and interesting history, we need it as a scapegoat whenever we mess up!

Good for Mr. Kim not giving in. The reaction of the visitors also show, many of the SK people have grown up, using also other information than that offered by their government or school/university. Normalization of ties with Japan must be a nightmare for activists, therefore I really welcome such initiatives of people like Mr. Kim. The houses look very authentic, must really be an interesting place to visit.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan apology needed to solve wartime labor issue: S Korean presidential candidate See in context

Here we go again.... and again.... and again. Lee Jae Myung is from the same party as the current failed leader, so don't expect anything from them. I also tend to think SK is confusing the aftermath of the Korean war in the 50ies more and more with the Japanese annexation, blaming the loss of the industrialization achievements from back then on Japan instead the Korean war.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: 'Sesame Street' debuts Asian American muppet See in context

The influence of the Korean community in the US is very strong, they even managed to alter names on official maps at schools. So the coworker inventing the new character in the Sesame Street team is of Korean ethnicity hence a new doll should be the same? No wonder they emphasize the ethnicity so strongly, it was a chance to enhance Korean influence. On top of that I wonder why it was so neccessary to come up with an Asian, sorry Korean muppet. What race/ethnicity are all the others? Why is it all of a sudden that one country must stick out now. Sorry, I see quite some political intention here, especially if she really becomes a permanent and influencial character on "Asian things".

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: German navy chief vows long-term commitment to Indo-Pacific See in context

I wonder what the German reaction would be to the Chinese navy sailing down the Rhine?

I assume they might wonder why the Dutch let them in in the fist place...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan adopts plan to push clean energy, nuclear to cut carbon emissions See in context

Shouldn't Japan be predestined for using geothermal energy? Still that much opposition in the tourism sector? Clean, safe, cheap yet profit-yielding?

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Posted in: S Korea to start live streaming from disputed islands See in context

"increase the public's interest" rather means keep bullying Japan and continue brainwash Koreans and the rest of the world by over and over breaching the 1965 contract. Also South Korea's government sponsored worldwide available, foreigners targeted, English speaking TV channel "Arirang TV" is doing "Dokdo" reports every two hours or so. First capture the audience by K-pop, food, culture etc. and then throw in a few minutes of "Dokdo is Korea since ever and forever". It is a very easy and good working manipulating tool. All the weather forecasts concentrate at least a few seconds on "Dokdo" in the "East Sea".

Also Korean activists found a very simple way to sneak their POV into other publications like maps that are depending on Openstreetmap. Every island stone was named "Dokdo" there, even coming up with new flags like "Wrong name: Takeshima" even when that was for the Japanese language only. The Sea of Japan is hiddenly named "East Sea", so it doesn't appear like this at first on OSM but on other maps like Mapquest, when switched to satellite view it says "East Sea" prominently first. Those activists are very good and I miss a counterpart of that from Japan. South Korea really needs to be put in their place soon before it's completely getting out of hand.

Best thing to do now is ignoring this, otherwiese it will be on the news and people will of course check it out, seeing some superimpositioned text stating Korea's propaganda. No doubt the cameras will prominently be advertised wherever possible.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Posted in: Pompeo got $5,800 whisky gift from Japan, but where is it? See in context

The flight home was long and boring. Moreover it was together with Trump, anything making the time more endurable was welcome.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: French father goes on hunger strike for children 'abducted' by Japanese wife See in context

EU laws are extremely protective of children and parents rights, to the extreme that I need the signature of my ex wife to renew my passport because our child is still a minor and I could otherwise take him away with me.

I never heard of such a thing. Concerning the children's passport it is true, you need the signature of both parents and even if you're not divorced and living happily together, it is better to carry a letter of consent from the other parent when travelling abroad yourself with your minors. But you can always get your own personal passport renewed for your personal travels without other's consent. Some countries even require you to carry a valid passport or ID anyway, so no ex-wife can deny you your own passport.

While in practice because of Japan not having signed any international agreement on the issue, and my son living now in Japan ‘abducted’ by the mother, that means if my ex wife had decided not to let me see him again I could not even renew my passport and ever enter Japan again.

Japan signed the Hague Convention on international child abduction. And as explained above, your own passport is yours. There is no way she could deny you getting a neccessary passport for yourself namd make you stay stuck in e.g. France. But I'm open to learn, which EU country would actually deny you your own personal passport for your travels.

On this specific issue, Japan is among the worst countries in the world and it’s not my personal opinion, it’s a fact.

Apart from this passport story you're right with the problematic attitude of child custody in Japan. Basically the rule is, after a divorce, both partners should go seperate ways and not meet or contact each other again. This divide includes not just your properties but also the children. No more contact desired, no more depending on each other, just seperate. It's not about foreigners in such cases, it's a standard and here something must change.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

Posted in: Ugandan Olympic team member tests positive for coronavirus upon arrival in Japan See in context

What's the problem? He got detected and denied entry. System works.

-14 ( +4 / -18 )

Posted in: S Korea holds drills around disputed islets amid row over canceled Japan talks See in context

Sorry Japan history clearly shows the truth.

Without commas, your sentence can be interprated in two directions.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Posted in: EU leaders express support for Tokyo Olympics See in context

Many of the poster here seem to live on an island only handling their pov. ... wait! In fact, the Covid numbers are dropping sharply in Japan for two weeks already. From a recent 7-day (per 100k people) incidence rate of 6,400 to 4,400 in less than two weeks. Overall these numbers always were significantly lower than in Europe or the US - and that last peak of actually only two was the highest recorded. So why always write, others have "no idea what is going on here" while they themsleves apparently have no clue, especially in comparison with other countries. France peaked with 56,000, Germany with 25,000, the Uk with 59,000 the US with 246,000!

Japan's numbers are so low it's almost ridiculous to accuse other governments they don't know about the situation. Just check the data yourself: https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/japan?country=JPN~DEU~FRA~GBR~USA

The numbers are going down so fast no that the vaccination starts everywhere, summer is helping, too and the olympics will have almost no international spectators plus the games will not start fpr another two months! Numbers will be even lower then - like I predicted I might add. So as I also emphasized before, the Olympics will be a great event for the whole world to mark the bgeinning of the end of the pandemic. Good thing it will take place. And now vote me down, haha.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Posted in: Belarus opposition figure detained after flight diverted See in context

Denounce as hijacking? Rather reveil!

European papers investigated some more. Seems that the Ryanair flight was threatend to be shot down by the missile loaded MiG-29 if they don't comply. What a choice, shot down or being blown up (by the imaginary bomb as it turned out). The destinantion airport of Vilnius was much closer than Minsk, even Polish airports were closer. The pilot used Squak 7700 which is general emergency after he was informed by the Minsk air traffic control about his choices.

Then not letting passengers off board after landing also shows, they knew there was no bomb. The russian girlfriend of the arrested blogger also didn't continue the flight. Not certain why so far. According to NAU, apparently the passanger list was six people short after finally continuing to Vilnius. Besides the arrested blogger and his girlfriend that is one Belarussian an three Russian citizens that remained in Minsk. According to NEXTA these people belong to the Belarussion secret service KGB.

Belarus' state owned news agency said it was President Alexander Lukashenko’s personal order to force down the plane in Minsk. Roman Protasevich was arrested when the plane landed and could await the death penalty, not just jail.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Posted in: Petition to cancel Tokyo Olympics submitted to Koike See in context

It has gathered signatures from people in Japan and 130 other countries

So 310.000 is not really many. There are often petitions that raise a lot of votes because it's a current affair and then support significantly drops after all the activists signed. It would be ridiculous to cancel the games now, BioNTech/Pfizer offered a vaccination for all athletes, the pandemic is getting under control, more and more countries are opening up again, the event is a major major event for many athletes and is neccessary for their career, so why not since it will be safe. Spectators are limited and even banned from abroad, and the countries that are still hit hard have no effect on the games. In contrary, holding the games will be seen as a piece of normalization of life that is actually taking place by the vaccination success in many countries already and it's a chance to bring the world together in cheers instead of bitterly wailing around. And now down with the votes here, haha.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

Posted in: Seoul court rejects wartime sex slaves' suit against Japan See in context

P.Smith: There is no dispute over the Dokdo islands

This reminds me of another quote: "You did not see any graphite!"

we will go to the International Court of Justice

I think Japan would very much welcome this opportunity to finally get SK to agree on a trial concerning the Liancourt Rocks, etc. from the ICJ as well.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo, as you've never seen it before See in context

here are a few major cities and their %s of greenspace

Those numbers (source: worldcitiescultureforum) include all the governing area that a certain city border includes, e.g. HongKong includes all the New Territories and therefore reaches 40%, on the other hand if you compare Paris, which has a very tight city limit comparable to Tokyo, it's just 9%. Taipei, although surrounded by a lot of green has in its tight city limits just 3% of green space. So, those numbers cannot be compared unless you also take the city border into account. If you actually took the whole of Tokyo, which stretches west far into the mountains, the number would be totally different.

I have an allergic reaction when flying over it...

Then why do you do it?

Exactly zero city planning!

While this of course is untrue, but the mix makes this city very interesting and adventurous building wise, never gets boring when walking though the wards.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Europe recasts COVID-19 vaccine playbook after first-round flop See in context

UK and the US showing the way when it comes to rolling out the vaccinations

That is only because both countries follow a strict export ban of vaccines unless they themselves were delivered the ordered quota.

The EU on the other hand allowed exports to the rest of the world though herself not getting enough.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan getting more Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to immunize elderly faster See in context

This is possible thanks to the European Medicines Agency EMA, which approved the production of BioNTech vaccine at the Marburg/Germany facility after BioNTech set it up in record time. One billion additional doses a year is possible from this plant alone:

https://investors.biontech.de/news-releases/news-release-details/biontech-provides-update-vaccine-production-status-marburg/

Also thanks to the EU for not restricting the export of BioNTech/Pfizer's vaccine (like e.g. US), although they also are in urgent need of it.

4 ( +10 / -6 )

Posted in: China pushes to expand virus origin search to other countries See in context

Still today such a clear work result amazes me: In what the WHO published as a report about the virus, they confirm it cannot come from a laboratory, totally unlikely, so unlikely that the suggestion of further research about the origin should extend in every direction - with the explicit exception of a laboratory accident. This is truly a remarkable assessment result. Maybe it's just me having some thoughts about this...

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Posted in: New EU COVID-19 vaccine setback as AstraZeneca announces shortfall See in context

Centrally managed economies like the EU and the old USSR always run in to supply problems.

By using this thought-terminating cliché you show that you have not the slightest idea how the EU works. If you like to compare centrally managed economies, the USA seems to fit better for that purpose. The EU is still just a close group of souvereign nations, who let certain national fields run by the commission - who again consists of representatives of the membership countries. Economically there has never been a supply problem, rather the opposite, a huge surplus production in almost every field. Just ask Trump about that matter.

Now, concerning the current vaccination problem, this is mainly because the EU is an open and reliable partner for many countries worldwide: Although millions of covid vaccination doses are produced within the EU, the majority is being exported to the whole world, while the USA forbids any corona vaccination exports. Also Britain, which does not officially ban exports, British based AstraZeneca does not dare to export any vaccine from there due to expected negative consequences for the company. The EU also could easily ban exports of covid vaccines but they declared to remain the before mentioned open and helpful partner to the world.

Just the recent additional cuts by AstraZeneca in deliveries to the EU orders forced Italy and other EU member states to seizure a shipment which was bound for Australia. Of course this caused immediate anger there but on the other hand, AstraZeneca could easily provide the amount of doses from the UK or US, just they don't do it or in case of the US, simply can't.

Now Europe hit with the British covid mutation variant is currently one of the most severely hit areas and is in desparate need for vaccination. So if the EU is going to keep some of the vaccine produced there for themselves, who could blame them. This is the power of a block of nations working together and while working together for better deals, each nation can still order vaccines for themselves if deemed neccessary. Germany did that, Poland, Hungary, etc... So you see when souvereign nations work together for the better, the outcome is much different from what especially the British Murdoch tabloids always promoted as EUSSR. When you have been exposed to only these misinformation for years, you are excused.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Tokyo high schools ask students to certify hair color not altered: NHK See in context

The solution to this disciplinary problem is simple: To keep up the natural hair color rule, the schools must test every student, regardless of the current impression of hair color by only some teachers. Anything else is discriminatory since the rule istn't called "black hair rule", it's the "not dyeing hair rule". What about students with red hair which was dyed black. Yes, that seems to be ok but just shows that the interpretation of this rule is discriminatory.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan renews claim on South Korea-held island See in context

Japan must claim yearly to not lose the claim. Anyway it would be better if Japan became more present with this problem. They're always in defensive mode rather than taking the initiative - worldwide. Meanwhile SK activists are taking over maps with Dokdo and East Sea, especially the free OSM where the Liancourt Rocks were completely taken by SK, even the Japanese description for Japanese IPs has been deleted and defined as illegal (with the fantasy id "wrong name"). The result can be seen on many other maps worldwide that take the free OSM map as a basis. Japan must become more present, building up international pressure on SK to finally accept an ICJ ruling.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Posted in: Girl wins suit against Osaka Prefecture over school telling her to dye hair black See in context

Ok, so the girl didn't get her full rights since the court believed the three teachers that examined her hair. How impartial is that? The plaintiffs needed an independant official expert oppinion on her hair. That would've been an easy win (if the hair wasn't dyed after all). The damages amount is ridiculously low compared to what the student suffered.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: LDP wants more women at meetings, but only if they don't talk: Nikai See in context

I think women should just agree to this demand and once approved for a meeting, every time they actually wanted to say something just start singing it out. Three things served then: Speaking out, nor breaking the rules and most importantly getting on the others nerves that demanded the no speaking rule in the first place. Honestly I think it's time for the opposition to take over once again.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Posted in: China bans BBC news broadcasts in apparent retaliatory move See in context

CGTN just has to move its headquarters to another country and go back on satellite receivable in the UK. Quite easy compared to the setback for the BBC in China. Please correct if I'm wrong but to my knowledge, satellite reception in China is allowed only from government controlled satellites. Via these you can watch international programs (mainly distributed for hotels etc.), slighty time delayed by a few seconds, and if something inconvenient starts to air, the program is faded to black. Hence a channel can easily be cancelled as well. Give three cheers for the good old short wave radio service, still important for citizens of certain countries.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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